ABBY: When Chief’s wife walked in with her children and a suitcase in each hand, it was like a scene from a badly written soap opera, only it was my life. She stopped in the doorway, looked me up and down and said, “So, you’re the girl?” Not hello, not thank you for letting us stay, just that, dripping in sarcasm. The kids said nothing. Just stared. Wide-eyed. Confused. Angry.
Chief tried to smooth things over. “My dear, let’s not start. We’re all in this together for now.” His wife snapped, “I didn’t come here for a lecture. I came here because you’ve turned our lives upside down. And now you want to play house with your project under the same roof as me and my children?”
That word project hit like a slap. I wanted to scream that I wasn’t the villain here. That I didn’t ask for any of this. But I stayed silent.
I watched them move in. My things were pushed into corners to make room for their bags. The fridge, once filled with food for one, suddenly looked bare. The peace I had built in this bubble of luxury was shattered.
Later that night, Chief came to talk. Said he was sorry. Said it was just temporary. That he needed me to cooperate, to “help hold things together.” I just nodded. What else could I do?
But as I lay on the floor that night beside a 13-year-old boy who snored like a bulldozer, I realised I had hit the express road my mum once talked about. And there was no exit in sight… hmmm
CHRIS: When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was a white ceiling and the soft blur of lights. For a moment, I thought it was heaven. But then I heard a machine beeping and felt the tug of tubes in my arm. I was alive.
We were in a hospital somewhere in southern Italy, they said. Rescued. Registered. Saved.
They had stripped and disinfected us, fed us warm food, and wrapped us in clean clothes. Thomas was beside me, thinner than I’d ever seen him, but breathing. Alive.
The nurse smiled and said, “You made it. You’re safe now.”
I cried.
Later, we were interviewed. Names, countries, families. They took our photos, gave us ID numbers, and told us about the refugee camp where we’d stay until they processed our cases.
But I didn’t hear most of it.
I was stuck on one thought, made it. I chased my destiny and somehow survived. But was this it? Was this the start of something better, Or just another beginning I hadn’t prepared for?
I didn’t know. All I knew was I wasn’t dead. And for now, that was enough. …hmmm
